Electrical generation from environmentally friendly sources, or “alternative energy sources,” has long been a goal of many, for both environmental and economic concerns. Wind-powered generators have been used for this purpose. Generally speaking, wind turbines transfer the wind's kinetic energy into electrical energy. This has been achieved by exposing a rotor to wind. The rotor turns a generator typically mounted aft of the rotor, driving the generator to create electricity. The rotor and generator combination (i.e., wind turbine generator) is mounted at the top of a tower high above the ground to expose it to high winds. The tower is attached to a foundation and is configured to endure significant structural loads.
Generally, large commercial grade wind turbines generate significant amounts of power. However, these large commercial grade generators must be located away from the consumers. All of the giant wind turbine machines require costly towers and/or support structures which greatly add to the final installation costs, without improving the basic operating performance of the wind power system. The large, centralized wind conversion installations also require large transmission towers which tie into the utility power grid for the locality of the auxiliary power site. The distribution and transmission systems are required to move the power from the large commercial generation facility to the consumers.
Wind turbine generators have also been used in small-scale applications, typically ranging between 50 watts and 100 kilowatts. Even for small-scale applications, a number of factors must be satisfied to make the investment worthwhile. For example, proper location and mounting of wind generators can be an issue. In many current approaches, a single, relatively small, wind turbine is mounted on a tower away from other structures such that the turbine is spaced away from turbulent flow caused by such structures. Thus, current approaches are typically limited to rural settings and are impractical in many other settings, in particular urban/cosmopolitan cities with limited space.